December 2015

December 28, 2015

It's been a while since I posted. Not much to say lately. Slow manuscript season and I haven't read anything stellar that I need to recommend.

I'm reminded that "good" bloggers find a way to blog whether they want to or not, and I think I've gone way too long between posts. So, herewith the books on my reading stand, to be read in no particular order in 2016.

If anyone has read any of these books and has anything non-spoiler-y to say, please hit the Comment button and tell me what you think.

VIXEN, by Bill Pronzini

I'm a longtime fan of the Nameless series. I believe this book was published in much shorter form as Femme Fatale a number of years ago. It's next on my list.

SERPENTS IN THE COLD, by Thomas D. O'Malley and Douglas Graham Purdy

Saw this one in a bookstore and it spoke to me. I think the setting is 1950s Boston, and a serial killer is loose. I don't usually go for serial killer books, but I do like the Boston area and its rich history. We shall see.

THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND, by Jennifer McMahon

Mrs. Agatho is a big fan of McMahon's and has been on me for a while to read one of her books. I don't know what to expect because Mrs. A. won't say anything about a book to me until I'm done reading it. I think this falls into the category of "women's suspense fiction," whatever that means...

THE WATER KNIFE, by Paolo Bacigalupi

I like a good dystopian novel (loved William Gibson's THE PERIPHERAL, which I read in 2015), and this one looks intriguing. It's a big book--what I call a "winter book" to be savored when the weather outside is frightful.

THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS, by Stephen King

I like short stories (though I'd never publish a short-story collection - ack! impossible to publish successfully unless the writer already has millions of fans who will buy anything s/he writes), and in many ways I think King is a better short-story writer than he is a novelist. I know I'll find at least a few stories in this collection that I'll love.

THE DEVIL'S DETECTIVE, by Simon Kurt Unsworth

This promises to be something different--a detective story set in hell. So many ways for this to be fantastic--and so many ways for it to fail miserably. Only time will tell...